Three Women Gymnasts Compete at Nationals

By Catherine Rocchio

While the average MIT student was busily preparing to head off on a week
long vacation for Spring Break two weeks ago, three members of the women's
gymnastics team headed off to Philadelphia to compete in the Division III
National Gymnastics Championships. Janet Sollod '96 was making a return
appearance at the tournament after competing in last year's event while
rookie standouts Sheila Rocchio '97 and Tasi Chiarenza '97 were making
their debut.

The meet, hosted by Ursinus College, boasted competitors from across the
nation with teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin dominating the field. Both
Rocchio and Sollod qualified into the meet as all-arounders (competing on
all four events). Chiarenza, suffering from a recently torn anterior
cruciate ligament in her knee, was forced to decline her all-around berth
to compete on the uneven bars only.

The meet on Friday highlighted the best performances from these women of
the entire season. Sollod, rotating with the team from University of
Wisconsin at River Falls, scored a 9.0 on the floor exercise for her
beautiful full-twisting layout and outstanding flexibility and dance. She
was awarded a personal best score of 8.75 on her full-twisting handspring
vault. She also stuck a gorgeous beam routine 8.75 on her full-twisting
handspring vault and stuck a gorgeous beam routine that included a
backhandspring, a back-extension to handstand, and difficult twisting jumps
for a score of 8.6.

Uneven bars, usually a strong point for Sollod, gave her a bit of
trouble as she missed one of her combination moves and took a 0.6 deduction
for the omission. Nonetheless, she stood up her one-and-a-half
somersaulting dismount and capped off an outstanding season with her bar
score of 7.5 and all-around total of 33.75 that left her ranked 16th in the
nation overall. Sollod just missed qualifying for the finals round on the
balance beam by only 0.05.

Rocchio began her meet on the balance beam where she was seeded in the
gold medal position. After sticking a gorgeous and difficult backhandspring
back layout tumbling series and difficult side switch leg leap, she
suffered an unexpected fall on her backhandspring straddle jump that cost
her 0.5 for a score of 8.6.

Swallowing back her disappointment, Rocchio went on to the floor
exercise where she landed a rocketing high double back somersault (one of
only two in the entire competition). Buoyed by the crowd's enthusiasm, she
finished in winning form earning a 9.3 and qualifying for the finals round
in 6th place. Rocchio scored an 8.75 on her handspring double front despite
a low landing and moved on to the last event of uneven bars in an excellent
position to place in the all-around.

Uneven bars, typically Rocchio's most troublesome event, finally
reflected all of her hard work. Finishing a free-hip to handstand with a
half pirouette, a straddle back and several giant swings, Rocchio finally
landed her one-and-a-half somersaulting dismount with near perfection,
taking only a few extra steps, for a score of 8.7. Her season's highest
all-around total of 35.35 earned her fifth place overall and an
all-American title, while her bars performance qualified her into the
finals competition as well.

Chiarenza, trying to salvage her season despite her serious injury, was
fortunately able to compete on the uneven bars as long as she did not
dismount with any weight borne by her right knee. Chiarenza, ranked second
overall in the nation on bars before her injury, rose to the difficult task
and swung a toe on handstand, a giant full twist to a giant half twist, and
an underswing to handstand before she dismounted with a simple underswing,
landing balanced on one leg. Her score of 8.85 despite the 0.2 deduction
for not having a difficult enough dismount, qualified her into finals in
5th place.

The finals competition was held the following day with the top 12
competitors in each event vying for the all-American titles bestowed upon
the top 6 performers in each event.

Rocchio, competing first on uneven bars, performed outstandingly once
again and topped off the performance with a perfectly-landed dismount for a
score of 8.7. Chiarenza, despite missing her full-twisting pirouette after
her second giant, improvised her routine with a hop change and determinedly
hung on to score an 8.7 as well. Chiarenza's combined scores of 17.55
earned her 5th place, and Rocchio's 17.4 landed her in 6th with both MIT
gymnasts receiving all-American status for their performances. Rocchio,
competing on the floor exercise as well, landed an even stronger double
back than the day before and received another score of 9.3, which was the
6th highest score of the day. Combined with her score from the previous
day, her total of 18.6 put her in 8th place.

Overall, the three All-American titles brought home by the MIT gymnasts,
combined with the excellent performances by Sollod, assures MIT of the
firepower to make sure that next year's season will be the best ever for
women's gymnastics at MIT.